Baby-Free

I moved from the couch, to the floor, to reduce the smell of baby vomit wafting into my nostrils. With the cushion under my bottom, and the back of the couch to lean on, I am sufficiently comfortable and likely cozier than when curled on a jagged rock, as I so often am.  I have reached the age in which an increasing number of my friends are married and have entered the stage of baby creation. I am able to cross into this world of babies, cooing softly and flapping my arms like a stupid human bird to encourage a smile from a young human (for us adults, watch this video instead chicken dance techno), and enjoy the simplicity of a child, and yet live in a world far removed. Could you imagine a traveling model with a baby to care for? A young creature in the main part of the studio while creating art on a pedestal, couch, or seamless backdrop, sleeping until the next burst of tears for attention.  And location shoots, with a baby to watch over – an impossibility. I have a difficult enough time keeping my backpack in sight while climbing rocks up a river, heading increasingly farther away from my starting point, that the idea of having a living, loving, beautiful being to worry about boggles my brain. 

Soon I will be back in California, visiting with family and overcoming jet lag from an arduously long string of flights back from Australia, and will be given another dose of baby time with my nephew and niece. I will likely stay the crazy auntie, as I am the one in my family who does not have the picture perfect existence but uniquely vagabonds with a purpose. There are aspects of the settled, successful lives of my siblings which I desire, but I can wait on the house, spouse and child under each arm.  Today I am in Australia, tomorrow I shall be as well, and after a double dose of Tuesday, I will be back in the United States.

My afternoon shoot had cancelled, and after a well paced day of climbing naked on one of the oldest functioning bridges in Australia (I believe the photographer had informed me the bridge was the second oldest functioning bridge in Australia, but I shall not claim this in the event I remembered incorrectly or the fact was mistaken), walking on a train track, sticking my bottom out of a tree in Dandedong National Park (although never quite as perfectly as we wanted for the photo), dressing in said tree before hikers came around, washing off and dirtying myself in the same waterfall and standing next to metal birds in a beautifully manicured park, I treated myself to lunch of dumplings and salty green Asian vegetables. I resisted the urge for that delicious pastry, more on basis of stomach space than willpower and later satisfied my sweet urges with a mango. A bit of laundry, a shower and a nap later, and the rested version of myself was ready to begin emails for a while, and entertain and be distracted by the small child of my photographer friends.

This rambling blog entry was inspired by baby vomit, small in quantity and relatively harmless, but something I do not need in my life. 

Both 100% baby-free

Katja Gee and Keira Grant

Photo by RJWG Photography

Edited by Keira Grant

Street Photography by Keira Grant

Hard Rubbish Day

Ormond, Melbourne, Australia

If hot, remove clothing, and keep the music going

Photographed by Adam Images

The Delaware Water Gap

If I were to play an air guitar while strutting in the woods, I would likely look like this.  I used to practice my musical instrument, a decidedly not rockin’ not-guitar, in the nude during my Texas summer in graduate school. I was so concerned about the AC bill that I sweltered in 80 degree temperature within my small apartment. I marvel at my excessive frugality and simple solutions; if hot, remove clothing, and keep the music going.

Where in the world is Keira Grant?

Where in the world is Keira Grant?

Today I sit at a photographer friend's home in Adelaide, Australia, sucking down some instant coffee, fried eggs with golden yokes and a side of sautéed mushrooms and unsuccessfully pulling my long nails away from the itchy-bumpy skin which is the remains of a two-week old poison ivy rash. In forty-five minutes a photographer will meet me at the door, and my long day of mentoring a model and modeling will commence. I have about 15 minutes of quiet until I must stare myself in the eye and apply makeup for the day.

Adelaide is known for being a tougher place for those more artistically minded, at least in terms of art models, but once I have begun an artistic relationship with a photographer, I feel the pull to return again and again. Shoots become better between photographer and model the more comfortable we are, and better reflects in the experience and the results of the time together. With a great model and photographer, a first shoot will produce great photos, but add a history of working together, and the possibility of success increases.

Yesterday I helped a new model with her second shoot and watched her images and confidence increase exponentially. I have no idea which model I will meet today, but look forward to playing mentor.

*beep* *beep* My blog timer has sounded and I must continue to prepare myself for work.
Have a jolly great day. Where in the world are you? And have you thought about bringing me out to you to begin our photography journey together?

Photographed by Keira Grant

Models Romi Muse and new model Dani

First shoot with Vivid Impressions - I hope to return to Florida someday to continue to see what we can create together. Getting me to an area the first time is the most difficult part - once I travel somewhere and meet good people and photographers, with enough work I am more easily swayed into making another trip.

My friend Kurt in Roanoke, VA lives a bit off the path from Raleigh to DC, but his photo explorations and good company tend to entice me the long route up the coast rather than through Richmond.